Bahrain Targets World Championship Breakthrough

TDT | Manama

Email : hussainm@newsofbahrain.com

The Bahraini national handball team has been placed in Pot 3 for the draw of the 2027 IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, with the official ceremony scheduled for June 10 in Munich, Germany, where the team will learn its preliminary round opponents.

Bahrain joins Greece, Poland, Brazil, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Chile, and the United States in Pot 3, meaning it cannot be drawn against any of these nations in the opening group stage.

The team secured its place at the World Championship after winning the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait in January, defeating Qatar 29–25 in the final after extra time. The victory marked a historic continental breakthrough, as it was Bahrain’s first-ever Asian title, highlighting the nation’s rising status in Asian handball.

Under International Handball Federation regulations, the draw will feature four seeding pots, with the preliminary round consisting of eight groups of four teams each. The top three teams from each group will advance to the main round, ensuring continued contention beyond the opening phase. The teams that do not reach the knockout stage (quarter-finals) will enter the President’s Cup, a classification competition used to determine final rankings.

The tournament will run from January 13 to January 31, 2027, with a format designed to protect player welfare, guaranteeing each team at least one rest day between matches in the preliminary stage so no side plays on consecutive days.

After the preliminary phase, the main round and President’s Cup will begin immediately. Cologne will host the closing stages, including the semi-finals, placement matches from fifth to eighth, the third-place play-off, and the final.

Preliminary round matches will be staged in Munich, Magdeburg, Kiel, and Stuttgart, while the main round will take place in Cologne and Hanover. Magdeburg will host the President’s Cup fixtures, and the knockout phase from the quarter-finals onward will be played at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

The draw in Munich on June 10 will therefore play a decisive role in shaping Bahrain’s path at the global tournament. The squad, coached by Swedish coach Robert Hedin, will aim to build on its recent continental success as it prepares for the challenge on the world stage.